Friday, March 29, 2024

Trump threatens to veto spending bill over DACA and border wall

 

President Trump threatened earlier today to veto the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill already passed by Congress, only hours before government funding would lapse.

In a tweet, Trump said he is “considering a VETO” because the proposal does not extend protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants or fully fund his proposed border wall.

The tweet throws more chaos into the process to keep the government running because if Trump does not sign a funding bill into law, government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

The legislation, which both chambers of Congress passed with bipartisan support, would fund the government through the end of September. It would also boost military spending, increase funding for border security, infrastructure and efforts to fight the opioid epidemic.

A White House official who declined to be named told CNBC that Trump was “frustrated” by what he deems Democrats’ refusal to reach a deal on shielding DREAMers. While Trump cheered the military funding levels, he was apparently irked by the level of border security funding.

The president, who tried to end DACA, reportedly wanted $25 billion in long-term wall funding in exchange for protections for the young immigrants. Two notable Republicans; Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. And Rand Paul, R-Ky encouraged Trump to torpedo it.

“Please do, Mr. President. I am just down the street and will bring you a pen. The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus. Totally irresponsible” Corker said in a tweet.

CNBC